Firefighters spent five hours Thursday morning trying to put out a fire that consumed Zion Baptist Church on High Street in Portsmouth.

The 250-member church, built in 1865, appears destroyed. Church members, huddled behind the church, say one of the area's oldest pipe organs was in the building.

"The church is not a building, it's the faith that the people have that we will come back from this," said Linda Hayden, a church member for 50 years.

Dozens of firefighters battled the flames from overhead with three ladder trucks.

The fire also destroyed the church's Visions Center, where 100 homeless were fed each morning.

There are mounds of bricks from collapsed portions of the church all along High and Green streets.

Police closed those streets to allow firefighters close access to the blaze.

Firefighters say it's too early to speculate on the cause of the blaze.

"We have ATF working hand in hand with the Fire Marshal," said Battalion Chief Jeff Terwilliger of the Portsmouth Fire Department. "Once we get the structural stability secured, we can get in and do our work."

The church has insurance and a representative was seen talking to ATF agents, who often respond to large fires.

Tenants in adjacent apartments were told to evacuate around 5:00 a.m..

"We have four little children, so we just evacuated, notified our neighbors," said witness John Gray.

Katrina Whitehurst is considered a hero by her neighbors. Thanks in part to her help, everyone made it out of their homes safely.

"I started banging on my neighbors' doors and upstairs and they started coming up," she said. "Panic kicked in, and then it was, we gotta get out of here. You just kick in the mode and you just start moving."

Skipjack Nautical Wares, located next to the church, appears heavily damaged as well. The owners of the business lives above the business, so they lost their home and store in the fire.

The Olde Town Business Association has established a fund to help the owners of Skipjack,a nd you can donate to the Friends of SkipJack at any Towne Bank or Guardian Federal.